Building a strong culture that aligns with the mission and vision of the company will not only build company-wide alignment, a shared sense of purpose and culture driven strategies that get the desired results, you will also see a measurable improvement in productivity and performance.

An organizational culture is an ingrained set of values and beliefs that determine how individuals within that culture behave, react, conduct business, communicate, and treat others. A culture is a structure in which the employees and leaders use as a guide in how to manage their teams, recruit top talent, and work/treat/communicate with clients. You can see how an undefined, unmanaged, and unnurtured culture can lead to chaos, mixed messages, poor hires, and unclear direction and expectations, all of which affect employee retention, client retention, and the bottom line. So, how does company culture impact revenue?

Strong Cultures Breed Engagement

A strong well defined positive culture increases employee engagement, job satisfaction, and well-being. A Business 2 Community report stated that companies with engaged employees outperform those without by 202%.

Engaged employees are the difference between a great hire that is enthusiastic about their role, determined to make a positive impact, and a mediocre hire that simply gets their work done, clocks-in and clocks-out without much thought about how they can do more, be better, or help others around them excel. Culture plays a critical role in overall business performance. Improving engagement, even a 5 point increase is linked to a 3% bump in revenue according to the 2018 Global Employee Engagement Trends Report from Aon.

In Chapter 1 of TakingPoint, Brent explains that most companies fall short at four things: (1) clearly defining their culture, (2) managing that culture, (3) aligning culture with strategy and desired results, and (4) leveraging culture during times of change. Strong cultures with high-performing teams have common characteristics. They make a conscious decision to build and define a culture that attracts and retains the right team members, promotes the organization’s values and reinforces those values throughout the company with consistent action and culture matches strategy and strategic objectives.

Strong cultures breed engagement because the employees share a common purpose and understand how their role impacts the company. They are rewarded for their efforts which strengthens the messages that reinforce the key mindsets and behaviors needed to deliver the desired results. Feeling fulfilled, appreciated, and part of something bigger than oneself has a way of permeating throughout a business, elevating the level of work and outcomes possible. Everyone feels connected and trust begins to build because everyone’s words match actions and mindsets match behaviors.

Strong Cultures Have A High Degree Of Trust

The two factors that trust affects most are productivity and engagement. Building a culture of trust isn’t just a nice thing to have, it is a critical component to company growth and longevity. Trust and loyalty are not a bottom-up strategy, but rather a social norm that must be established at the top. Authentic trust is built through consistent actions, follow-through, and a genuine interest and care for the employees.

Employee retention and engagement increase when there is a high degree of trust. Gallup research reports a staggering 87% of employees worldwide are not engaged. Can we assume that leaders and managers are not prioritizing trust in their organizations? Chapter 2 of TakingPoint provides us with the Seven Pillars of Trust that will help you focus your efforts in the right areas.

Strong Cultures Are Disciplined

Discipline starts with the habits and routines of leadership. Organizational transformation and growth will not exist without practice, training, and consistent action in accountability and discipline. It’s one thing for a leadership team to be aligned on their goals, and an entirely different thing to remain disciplined in the delivery, tone, consistency, and priorities communicated across an organization. The manner and forum in which you deliver a message can have a direct impact on its level of trust, acceptance, and understanding. Discipline is created and maintained by practicing accountability on an individual, team, leadership, and company level. A company aligned and committed to a vision, mission, and guiding principles, with a mindset of prioritizing people and culture will be more disciplined in their communication and actions because they have cultivated the mindsets and behaviors necessary for growth.